Catapult Sports
Through Digitalsmith · 2012–2015Worked with founder and then-CEO Shaun Holthouse during Catapult’s early growth, contributing to the OptimEye and ClearSky brands, digital strategy and due diligence associated with an acquisition.
Head of Sport Science · Strava application
Understanding
the athlete
behind the data.
I bring commercial sports technology experience to my work as a sport scientist and endurance coach.
My ACIP framework brings training data and life context into decisions that can be reviewed and adapted. At Strava, I would apply that thinking to product development.
Explore my approachApplied researchCommercial judgementCoaching since 2006
01 / Understanding the athlete
The evidence.
The context.
The opportunity.
Training-load technologies describe the work. Understanding the athlete means asking what that work means in the context of their life.
A conversation
about ACIP.
Presenter film in preparation
Leighton Wells · Sport science and practiceThe presenter video has not been generated. Explore the sourced framework below.
The ACIP framework
Practice in context.
A spectrum of training-load and communication practices from my doctoral research.
Explore the framework
Select an approach to read its full description from the thesis.
ACIP is a proposed approach requiring further validation. The figure describes a rigid application of evidence at the EBP end of the spectrum; evidence-based practice remains an essential reference point.
Professor Stephen Seiler on ACIP
“It will be interesting to follow the impact of the candidate’s perhaps most novel contribution, the conceptualization Adaptive Contextualized Informed Practice (ACIP) – described by the candidate as a flexible, coach-centered approach that integrates evidence-based principles with real-world athlete contexts, promoting responsiveness and reflection. While the idea of coaches striving to be both evidence-based and mentally flexible in their training guidance is not new, sometimes clearly conceptualizing a construct and putting a label on it can drive the field forward.”
Independent doctoral examiner · July 2025 · Report, p. 3
Looking ahead
I was really humbled by Professor Stephen Seiler’s comments on my thesis. I take them on board as I look to what technology can help us understand next.
At Strava, I see an opportunity to understand training load in greater depth, help athletes get the most out of themselves, and strengthen meaningful connections across the sport and exercise community.
I believe Strava’s future, built on a strong evidence base, is a bright one. That conviction comes from the work still to be done: listening to athletes, testing what is useful, and putting those insights into practice.
An illustration in practice
Adaptive.
Contextualised.
Informed practice.
ACIP is the framework I developed through my doctoral research. It brings evidence and the athlete’s circumstances into the same conversation.
Read my article on athlete contextAn example of ACIP in practice
A completed session is only part of the picture.
- Training dataDescribe the work performed.
- Athlete contextAsk what the experience means.
- Informed practiceDecide, review and adapt.
The planned session was completed. Duration, pace and heart rate describe aspects of the work performed.
They leave questions about how the athlete experienced it and what else is happening in their life.
The athlete reports poor sleep and unusually high pressure at work.
That information gives us questions to explore alongside the training data. It does not establish a diagnosis or dictate a training change.
Clarify the athlete’s experience, consider the available evidence and decide whether the plan still fits.
Review the response over time and adapt when there is reason to do so.
Illustrative example · a way of explaining practice
02 / Experience
Commercial
perspective.
Scientific depth.
augo ag
Zurich, Switzerland · 2026Advised on features for a new training management system. Wrote about the relationship between subjective and objective athlete data as part of the consulting engagement.
Research and coaching
Deakin PhD · coaching since 2006Doctoral research on training-load management and coaching practice in triathlon, with four first-author, peer-reviewed papers. Practical experience connects the research with the decisions coaches and athletes make.
03 / Research in practice
Ideas you can examine.
ECSS · Rimini, Italy · 2025
Research, shared with the field.
Presenting my research on training-load management and coaching practice at the European College of Sport Science congress.
View the presentation
AusTriathlon · TrainingPeaks
Connecting evidence with practice.
Presenting applied research to coaches at the TrainingPeaks University/AusTriathlon workshop and High Performance Day at the Queensland Academy of Sport.
View the workshop
Research · coaching · participation
A perspective shaped by experience.
Research and coaching sit alongside my own experience of endurance sport.
Practitioner article · TrainingPeaks
What 34,731 training sessions reveal
Translating research with 95 age-group triathletes into questions that matter in day-to-day coaching.
Practitioner article · augo
The search for athlete context
How subjective and objective information can work together to inform practice.
Coaching webinar · AusTriathlon
Training-load management.
A triathlon coaching webinar presented to coaches across Australia on behalf of AusTriathlon, February 2025.
Watch the webinar · 54 min
04 / Application
Leighton Wells
Sport science, coaching and commercial sports technology.